 |
| Match Details |
| Round |
Round 1 |
| Opposition |
Shanachies 1 |
| Date |
24-Sep-2016 |
| Ground |
North Ryde |
| Match Summary |
| Result |
LOSS on 1st innings by 6 wickets |
| Kurrajong Gypsies 1st innings |
8 wickets, 119 runs
|
| Shanachies 1 1st innings |
4 wickets, 120 runs
|
| Match Report |
Season 25, Round 1
Gypsies v Shanachies 1
First round of the season and the Gypsies come out to play. Or at least 10 came out to play.
The off season has been hard on the Gypsies. B1 has done a fetlock and when the vets called for the screen to be drawn around him, the call came out “but he’s a Gypsy” and the vets decided he was not worth the bullet. Looking at a Round 9 return if he can gain the favour of selectors with such a long layoff. He might have to make his way back through the minor grades.
Nathan has thrown his back out, again, but managed to drag himself around the park. His running style was such that one spectator was heard to comment “if Tracey is missing a carrot at dinner time I think I know where it is”. The plan was to take things easy in the field and he did this in true Gypsy style. Second ball of the day saw Nathan chase a ball to the fence and with the body not in top shape he was unable to pull up and used the fence to stop his progress and ended up a crumpled mess on the ground.
At the start of play the sun was out and it was a glorious day with the council doing a magnificent job of preparing the pitch and the outfield. The pitch after being uncovered from the off season was like a sheet of glass and saw more than a couple of bowlers come a cropper. The outfield had a grass count of 5 blades per square metre with more than the odd hole, which could have been mistaken for a BHP open cut mine, where the soccer goal posts had been. It was probably a blessing Kitty was not there as we might have lost him down one of the holes and we wouldn’t have seen him again.
Chopper in his first game as captain for 2016/17 won the toss and chose to bat. Then the problems of captaincy started. Who do we bat in the top order? There seemed to be a deficiency of batsmen. Megalomania kicked in of course and he made himself 1st drop, a position usually given to the premier batsman.
Two top order ducks later and the first run from the bat came in about the 6th over. The captain hung in there bravely and finished with 19 at a strike rate of about 3. Things were looking grim until a father who was tasked with babysitting duties on the day wandered onto the oval. An offer of cricket whites, bat and kit was made and he duly accepted and left his young child with the Gypsies bench. In a shining example to other erstwhile team-mates who have played the family card in the past, it was a good thing a representative from Family and Community Services was on hand to supervise. The player was called on very early and strode to the crease within a few minutes of arriving. It was Varinder, ere he started operations on the Shanachies cricket club.
Being in a spot of bother early, V slowly worked his way into the innings in his usual fashion and didn’t have a wild swing until the second ball which was dispatched to the boundary.
Obviously in a hurry to return to his child who he had abandoned to the Gypsies bench he continued in this fashion hoping his wicket would fall.
Not just content with hitting the ball with damaging effect V turned his attention to the fielders. A ball was pitched on a good length about middle and off which V decided needed to meet the square leg boundary and pulled the ball a little uppishly, falling just short of a diving square leg fieldsman. The fieldsman without consulting with his team mates made a beeline to the bench picked up his kit and headed for home, not before showing the Gypsies his now very crooked little finger and declaring he was off to the hospital to have his broken finger repaired. The Gypsies showed all the grace you would have expected and one enquired “How did you enjoy your 2016/17 season now that’s it over?” You’d nearly say that was a wicket taken by V while he was batting.
Not long into V’s innings, with wickets falling at a rapid pace, Nathan came to the crease. With a back no stronger than a blade of wet straw expectations were low. First ball was dispatched to the boundary and on he went making a partnership of 17 with V. I think we heard at the pub about 300 times how he outscored V in his partnership scoring 11 of those 17 runs. Didn’t get him any date votes for this but his back got 2 votes.
Runs were hard to come by and with 3 balls to go it was down to the ferrets. Kimba strides to the crease, obviously having spent the off season in a good paddock, and with 3 balls remaining the instructions were clear from V and Tony (umpire) RUN. The ball is wide, and a swing and a miss. Kimba had no trouble hearing the call of run as before the backswing was completed V was standing next to him. The decision had to be made, stand your ground and run V out or put an early down payment on a rare back-to-back Duck Tie?
Kimba, in an attempt to disprove Newton’s First Law, took off and of course the ball made it to the other end before him, proving Newtown’s Second Law. It was well worth the effort as V was now on strike and added a single leg bye to the total in the final 2 balls. Most notable is that this was Kimba’s first golden duck, those that have seen him bat would be amazed this was the first.V then took his child and left the oval quickly. One can only assume to seek trauma counselling for his son, or because he was in big trouble with the Missus.
Then it was the Gypsies turn in the field. The Skipper again had an attack of Megalomania, threw himself the new cherry and was fined for a wicketless opening spell. One can only admire this latest Gypsy Captain’s shrewd plan to re-make himself as a batsman in his 14th season. So desperate for bowlers he
In fact both opening bowlers were fined for an opening spell with no wickets and Hollywood was called on and bowled the worst ball of the day which landed off the pitch. Seeing this Chop an idea and he even advised Kimba he should be prepared to come on for an over or two as the openers carried the Shanachies toward the inevitable victory.
A great catch was taken in the outfield by Hugh, sun was low and bright and it just dropped into his hands and in non-Gypsy style he held it (form avoidance?). The Shanachie victory could not mask a great day in the field with no catches being put down which is a great sign for the season to come but it could also be because the bowlers created so few opportunities to drop anything, despite Hollywood buying three late wickets.
Date Votes
Date voting went along similar lines to last year with the Singh’s dominating the votes - but this time with a slight twist: V jnr scored very well for behaving so well on the sidelines while dad batted. One spectator was heard to comment “V jnr has shown more patience waiting for dad then his father ever did in the middle.”. V jnr is in with a strong chance of taking out Date Night with his current form.
Fines
V was the most heavily fined on the day. 50 avoidance, mass pub avoidance (unique in that he wasn’t even selected), Desertion, Narcissism (running out Kimba for his own glory).
The Megalomaniac we call captain wouldn’t let this report go out without me saying he currently has the highest batting average for the season at 19. Technically Varinder’s 47no doesn’t give him an average.
|
|
|
| Kurrajong Gypsies 1st innings |
| Tan, Daryl |
0 |
| Masters, Tony |
0 |
| Shanahan, Jim |
19 |
| Ross, Hugh |
1 |
| Gilroy, Rodney |
17 |
| Singh, Varinder |
47* |
| Cohen, Nathan |
11 |
| Sinclair, Craig |
1 |
| Casey, Glenn |
0 |
| Moss, Warwick |
0* |
|
| Shanachies 1 1st innings |
| Shanahan, Jim |
6 overs, 0 for 28 |
| Ross, Hugh |
7 overs, 0 for 32 |
| Masters, Tony |
7 overs, 3 for 30 |
| Gilroy, Rodney |
3 overs, 1 for 4 |
| Sinclair, Craig |
3 overs, 0 for 20 |
|
|
